Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Indian Railways - one of the world's largest networks - and the Indian Air Force have been roped in to transport oxygen cylinders and urged states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines as the country grappled with a rapidly worsening second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus infection has claimed 187,000 lives and affected 16.3 million people in the country of over 1.3 billion people since the outbreak started last year. With the situation turning grim, 2,263 people perished and nearly 333 thousand fresh cases were recorded only on Thursday, with complaints of oxygen, medicine and hospital bed shortage reported from a number of states.

“Railways has started Oxygen Express. Empty Oxygen tankers are also being transported by the Air-Force to reduce one way travel time,” Modi said as he chaired a high-level virtual meeting on Covid-19 situation with Chief Ministers of 11 states and Union Territories which have reported maximum number of cases recently.

Taking note of the points raised by the states with regard to oxygen availability, Modi said there was a continuous effort to increase the supply.

All the departments and ministries were working together, while  industrial oxygen has also been diverted to meet immediate requirements.

He called upon all states to work together and coordinate with one another to fulfil requirements relating to medicines and oxygen.

“He urged the states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines. The PM said every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded,” an official release said.

The prime minister said the states should set up a high-level coordination committee to carry oxygen to different hospitals and ensure as soon as there is allotment of oxygen from the centre, it can deliver oxygen as per requirement in different health facilities.

“Noting that the virus is affecting several states as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities at once, PM Modi called for working together to fight the pandemic with collective power,” the Press Information Bureau release said.

 Pointing out that the chief reason for India’s success during the first wave of the pandemic was the country’s united efforts and united strategy, he said ”we will have to address this challenge in the same way”.

Modi assured Centre’s full support to all the states and said the union health ministry was in touch with the states and is monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advice from time to time.

The prime minister also stressed the need for widespread testing, and remarked that the ongoing  vaccination programme should not slow down in the present situation.

The central government has so far provided over 150 million vaccine doses to the states free of cost.

He also underscored the importance of hospital safety, and expressed grief on recent incidents of oxygen leakage and fire at hospitals.

During the interaction, state chief ministers briefed Modi about the steps their governments have taken to contain the current wave.

(SAM)